19-05-2025
Antisemitic claims being made in University lectures, seminars and talks are 'flourishing unchecked'
A rise in anti-Jewish narratives in university classrooms is 'flourishing unchecked', a new report has claimed.
Ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza since October 7 has reportedly led to a spike in 'disinformation' in lectures and seminars.
The study by the Henry Jackson Society, a British national security think tank, indicated more than 70 per cent of those polled thought non-factual narratives had directly shaped their peers' understanding of the conflict.
With social media cited as the main source, over 20 per cent said 'antisemitic claims' were aired in lectures, seminars and class discussions.
Helen Iyanov, the report's author, conducted workshops with dozens of mainly Jewish students at three unnamed universities.
Among the 'falsehoods' referenced were claims about the Israeli government and its stance on genocide.
The nature of anti-Jewish hate crimes reported often focussed on people appearing to express support for Hamas - a proscribed terrorist organisation in Britain.
Hostility on campus was also mentioned, amid reports students were afraid to walk around freely as they hid kippahs and Star of David necklaces.
One told researchers: 'In most students' eyes, you are either a "Zionist coloniser", an "apartheid apologist" or a "supporter of Palestinian liberation". A vacuum of nuance and the normalisation of antisemitic beliefs are now intrinsic to campus life.'
Speaking at a House of Lords debate last week, Lord Leigh of Hurley, a Conservative life peer, said: 'Members of the National Education Union undertake activities such as clearing Israeli-made food from supermarkets and film themselves doing it and circulate those films.'
Baroness Deech, the former head of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, went so far as to claim the root of the 'behaviour' is the 'religious teaching that Jews are inferior'.
She described lecturers as the 'aggressors', adding: 'It demonstrates the failure of Holocaust education which focuses on dead Jews as a feature of the past and has nothing to say about the long history of antisemitism and the focus of antisemitism today, namely the state of Israel.'
The concerns come as the death toll in Gaza has been widely reported as now being more than 50,000 with Israel only yesterday agreeing to resume entry of 'basic' humanitarian aid into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade.
It follows Hamas attacks on October 7 in response to the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land, with the onslaught killing around 1,200 Israeli people and over 250 being taken hostage.
Last month, ten British Nationals were accused of deliberately shooting civilians in Gaza while serving with the Israeli military.
Alleged war crimes include 'running a bulldozer over a dead body' and a vehicle demolishing part of a hospital, in a 240-page-dossier fronted by one of Britain's most prominent human rights lawyers.
The Office for Students said regarding concerns around a rise in anti-Jewish hate: 'Universities will need to have effective policies to protect students from harassment, robust procedures to address it if it occurs, and support for students who experience it.
'[We have] published a range of case studies and has shared resources to assist universities in their work to tackle antisemitism.
'This includes a guide to historical myths, persistent accusations and modern misconceptions about Jewish people and the truth behind them.'
It comes as Ms Inavov claimed there was a 'profound deficiency in media literacy' among students.
